Isaria japonica (IJ), is an entomopathogenic fungus that is grown on pupae
of the silkworm Bombyx mori for its medicinal properties. Its extracts have potential
neuro-protective effects. An extract reversed astrogliosis in the CA3 area of the
hippocampus of aged mice. The CA3 area is responsible for spatial pattern association
and completion, detection of novel situations, and short-term memory. This finding led
us to the development of treatments to improve age-related impairment of patients with
Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Acute and subchronic toxicity and chemical profiling of the
extract were conducted for the assessments of medical use. We are now evaluating
preclinical trials with AD patients. For the diagnosis of AD, magnetic resonance
imaging (MRI) enabled the detection of the previously invisible pathological
alterations in a mouse sclerosis model with autoimmune encephalomyelitis. Magnetic
resonance spectroscopy (MRS) showed that demyelination regions in some multiple
screlosis (MS) patients had increased lactic acid content, suggesting the presence of
ischemic events. These results show that products derived from IJ may prevent or
reduce the impact of dementia, especially AD, and MRI and MRS could lead widely to
the diagnosis of neurological diseases.
Keywords: Aged brain, Alzheimer’s disease, Astrogliosis, Dementia,
Entomopathogenic fungus, Isaria japonica, Magnetic resonance imaging and
magnetic resonance spectroscopy analyses, Multiple sclerosis, Nuclear magnetic
resonance spectroscopy analysis.
